A Free Elf
by dirtydeedsdonedirtcheap
Summary: A look into Dobby's last moments.


**Disclaimer:** **Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

 **A Free Elf**

He has never felt such pain before.

It fills his body, coursing through his veins that are dying to give out. _Dying_. There is blood coming out of him, seeping out of his small heart and he is dying. Dying in the arms of his one true friend.

 _Green_.

It will be the last color he shall ever see. Green eyes filled with sorrow and remorse, with an apology. _I'm sorry_. _It's all my fault_. Those are the words he knows Harry Potter must want to speak to him but he cannot hear him. He cannot hear the soft sound of his voice or see his face clearly. He knows that there is a scar on his head and that his dark hair sticks up because it can never be kept down. His face is filled with sorrow but all he can see are glowing green eyes.

How foolish he feels. He was— _no_ , he _is_ , a free elf who threw himself in the crossfire. Oh, how his family would have been so ashamed! To think he had been taught time and time again to just _do_ instead of _be._

Dobby has always wanted to be someone, someone more than a house-elf. A house-elf? He doesn't understand how the other elves, the ones that are bound to families, do not feel any shame. Any _pain_. How painful it was for him to follow the rules like an animal.

Is he an animal? He is not considered a human being but he is not a centaur or another creature that lives in the forest and sleeps among the trees. He is stuck in the in between. Never free from his title but he is because _he_ is _free_.

He has never felt so weak before. Even after the countless of times he has hurt himself. He never felt anything when he was ironing his hands and scarring his flesh because he was a poor house-elf banging his head against the wall and throwing himself to the floor never made him feel pain.

It is because of those green eyes that are now slightly dim. It is because of those green eyes that he is dying. He has been indebted to Harry Potter ever since he set him free, tricking his true master.

Must…save…Harry Potter…

To think! A wizard trying to help a house-elf! For him to trick his master— _no_. He must stop thinking that. He was never his master. The woman with the wild hair and the dark angry eyes was someone he should not have been afraid of. She was not his master either, nor was the bratty child with the grey eyes. He was just a fool. She was just a fool. They were people who thought they were better than him but the Malfoy's were nothing compared to Harry Potter.

He has a friendship with him. No, he _had_ a friendship with him. Harry will live like Dobby wants him to or perhaps he will die. He cries out in his arms, throat closing up quickly. It's hard to breathe, chest rising and falling as the green eyes start to come out of focus.

Dobby _must_ live. He must fight against the pain inside of him and keep Harry alive. That is his mission in life.

He has a friendship with him. A _real_ one.

One where Harry makes sure that Dobby has socks and other clothes to wear because he is free. He no longer has to wear the dirty smock that makes him appear like he is dirt underneath a wizard's shoe. He no longer has to _scrub_ the dirt from underneath a wizard's shoe. He wears his own shoes, ones with a hole for his large toe, argyle socks peeking through when he wiggles them. He wears hats upon hats that itch slightly and are lopsided but he keeps every single one and shirts with buttons and zippers with pretty designs.

He was free to do whatever he wanted and he chose to stay in Hogwarts to protect Harry Potter because he was his friend. He was Dobby's family.

He could have gone anywhere. He could have traveled the world and seen the pyramids or bought suits tailor made to his body that were made of pure Egyptian cotton. He could have been the first of the elves to travel or do something more with his life. He could have been a pioneer.

But Dobby didn't know what a pioneer was and he was too tired to speak. It hurt to think or to move. He would have asked the smart one, his other friend, the girl with the bushy hair that worried about Harry as much as he did.

The heart that normally thumped loudly in his ears sounded faint, as if it really wasn't there anymore. His chest rose slightly and fell, breathing was harder to be expected but all he could do was stare into the green eyes of his friend. They were comforting him. Reminding him of his freedom and of leafy green trees and warm grass underneath his toes.

The green eyes shifted and the color he was now seeing was the blue and white of the sky and the clouds. What would it feel like to be one _with_ the clouds? To not have a care in the world anymore? He wouldn't have to clean after others. He would be able to roam around freely and see all the colors of the world.

He would not be indebted to the green eyes anymore.

…And for a moment, when his head moves and he winces, the eyes are in focus once more. The green is shining, wet tears are falling out of the eyes and Dobby wishes he could wipe them away and tell Harry Potter how much he means to him because he has done everything for him.

Harry gave him a second chance at life and for that Dobby will be forever grateful.

For a moment the eyes are colorless.

For now, no, _forever_ , Dobby will cut ties with Harry Potter and he will finally be _free_.

 **Author's Note:** **I struggled trying to get into Dobby's head. I know he loved Harry but I didn't want this to overkill their friendship. Let me know what you think in a review!**


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